Rueben Tabotabo, 43 years old and a resident of Maasin, Southern Leyte, is arrested after he was found in possession of two sachets of suspected shabu in a ferry docked in Bohol. | photo courtesy of PCG-7
CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard in Jagna, together with the Police force and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency of Bohol, arrested on Sunday, August 18, 2019, a boatswain of a ferry for possession of illegal drugs.
Around 8:15 p.m. on August 18, 2019, Coast Guard Jagna together with Jagna Police and PDEA Bohol arrested Rueben Tabotabo, 43 years old and a resident of Maasin, Southern Leyte, after he was found in possession of two sachets of suspected shabu.
A follow-up inspection inside the cabin of Tabotabo on board the ship he was working at also yielded an estimated 1.25 grams of suspected shabu with a Dangerous Drugs Board value of P8,500.
The coast guard conducted the crackdown operation of the sea vessel after receiving reports that a crew member was allegedly selling shabu.
The ferry plied the Jagna, Bohol to Cagayan de Oro City route every Sunday.
According to Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael John Encina, public information officer of Philippine Coast Guard in Central Visayas (PCG-7), they will still be working to identify the source of the drugs of taken from Tabotabo and who his customers are.
The operation on the said vessel is part of the iCARE Campaign Plan of PCG-7 aimed at nabbing ship crew members involved in illegal drugs. /bmjo